He may have escaped from Aurora once before, but he couldn't let matters rest there. Maybe he's worried about Mary, who pretends she doesn't know him, asks for his help, and then disappears. But even without that, it seems like the protagonist of Aurora 2 has got this mystery under his skin, and he won't stop until he finds out just who Aurora is... and stops her. Steel your courage and ready your cursor for a creepypoint-and-click game from the team at Pastel Games.

Click around with your mouse and pick up and use inventory items from the bottom of your screen to chase after this seemingly mundane dance hall poster girl who appears to have some seriously warped powers over space, time, and maybe even the weather. The game is divided into chapters which only end once you've done everything the story wants you to.

Analysis: Aurora 2 differs a bit from its predecessor. While the horror/Western/mystery theme continues, the game moves into more of an visual novel direction, with a strict linearity enforced in early scenes. Players who enjoy point and click games chiefly for the challenge will likely chafe at being placed on rails in this way. Later "chapters" open up a bit more, but dividing the game into chapters at all reflects the artistic decision to force you to get some parts of the story before others. It's better to go into it with the attitude that it's a visual novel with point and click elements.

The game expands a little bit on the Aurora mythos, but mostly in the form of raising more questions, not answering the mysteries already raised in the previous game, and while the ending is less abrupt, it's even more of a cliffhanger this time around. The horror rises a little more to the fore with visions (flashbacks? hallucinations? an alternate reality?) showing a much darker side of the current environment, but these are never done as jump scares. Middle games in a series like this are always tough to pull off, but this one lays the groundwork for what could be a seriously cool conclusion.

And that was only because I wasn't really expecting there to be one. I really like the fact that the creators at Pastel Games aren't using jump scares in their games, but are letting the ambiance speak for itself.

My personal opinion is that this is like fairy tales in which the fairies/spirits make someone believe everyone is all right when actually everyone is dead/rotting/whatever. I think the decayed and dead world is "reality" and the semi-normal world is the illusion. I think that because of the part in the first game where people stopped by a town and everything seemed fine, then stopped by a week later and everyone had been dead for at least a year. The people Aurora gets her hooks into are actually dead, but maybe even they don't know it yet.

No, nothing pops out at you. Some of the flash backs/flash forwards(?) are a little creepy and I jumped a little when I figured out the clock but there's nothing trying to get you. I'm a wuss too! Just turn the music low and play in a light room. It was fun :)

Seriously?!? That was terrible! The boringness of the vague plot was matched only by the total lack of puzzles and a abrupt endings for each chapter. Hey, JIG! I thought that you guys only gave us good games! What's the deal with this half-baked load of malarkey?

[Rating a game as "good" is highly subjective, and yet from the ratings the JIG community is giving this game so far, I'd say your assessment of the game as being "terrible" is in the minority. Likewise, our evaluation team of reviewers unanimously rated this game as "definite review" material, even if some of them agree that the plot remains a bit frustratingly vague. -Jay]

Pretty weird. Not my cup of tea, but I know there are many fans of this genre out there. I won't rate it because that wouldn't fair to the developer or to peeps who only play high rated games. To each their own.

I honestly have no idea what people are talking about with pixel hunting. If anything I found the cursor changed too soon, too far away from the actual spot, causing me to accidentally change scenes a few times. As for the "vague" plot, if you didn't play the first one, nothing will make sense. You're given the same amount of information as other Pastel Games series, and the chapters end just as abruptly as other games. This is a great game by a great game studio.

For those having trouble with the loading screen: I had the same problem when I went to play the first Aurora game earlier today (wanted to refresh my memory). Try clearing your browser's cache. This solved the problem for me. I'm running the latest version of Chrome.

All of these people are dead and that Aurora might actually be the "good guy," trying to connect with the ghosts to let them know and to help them pass on. [Holding seances at 8pm??] All of the totally gone ghost towns, then, have figured this out and left, and the people remaining (potentially including our protagonist?) are still in denial/purgatory.

I wouldn't call Aurora 2 "terrible", but it is definitely lacking compared to Aurora 1. The first episode had a very definite Twilight Zone, just-what-in-tarnation-is-going-on-here (sorry, couldn't resist :-) feel to it. There were moments of that same feeling here and there in this part, but overall it felt too pedestrian, most likely due to the fact that this episode doesn't really move the overall plot along. Aurora is becoming a MacGuffin. At minimum we should have gotten a little more insight into her relationship to Mary instead of what amounts to an over-complicated "treasure hunt" to find a couple of rather mundane items which wind up not even being used (think Chechkov here - Anton, that is).

Sad, really, because the first part of this story was quite good. Hopefully the next installment will be an improvement.

I had the same problem as Anonymouse even in the JayIsGames hosted page: when I somehow get in get in, it always starts at the save slot section, I choose "delete all save slots", it's seems like the only way to get out, when I choose new game, the whole game plays through everything until the end. Gosh, how I miss how PastelGames didn't sell there stuff to third-party which ruin them with there logo and ads.
I don't know about you guys but these days I see ads, showing to much boobs and people smooching and they don't seem to advertise anything specific, I would gladly send you a email to prove them if you'd like.
I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, sometimes people come just to rant, but I like some of the games you put here, so keep up the good work.
Cheers from Latin America.

I am really surprised with some of the comments. You can say: I don't like this game and it is regular, but you can't say: this is a bad game. There is really great game designers today (with a lot of differences between them), make a choice and play those games you like, but don't disparage good authors.
This game is not my cup of tea (as somebody said earlier), but I experienced it as a reading of good creepy story with great illustrations and I am really content with what I get in return.

Great game! It was just the right thing for a cold autumn night. It was very atmospheric; instead of BOOSCAREYOU moments, the game used shadows, scenery, and eerie music to creep you out. It's so hard for me to find things I find genuinely spooky, but this definitely did the trick.

I didn't really have a problem with pixel hunting, like other people seem to have. If you just click areas that look like something you can interact with (conspicuous items, door handles, etc.), and give your cursor a good wave around the game screen, you shouldn't have any problems at all.

All of these people are dead (potentially including the protagonist??) and that Aurora is the "good guy" trying to "help" the ghosts pass on(holding seances at 8pm???). The ghost towns that have turned dead have all figured it out and left, and the people remaining are still in denial/purgatory.

I love the artwork in this game, it's amazing! It all looks painted? I wonder if it's actually painted or all just digitally painting?

Shame about the story.. I agree with those who said it's unecessarily vague. I think the writer has tried to make it mysterious but unfortunately it's a little too myserious.. I didn't have a clue what was going on, nor did I really care, which is not a good sign.

Puzzles also weren't great; not really puzzles, just clicking through in sequence.

But overall it's worth playing for the atmosphere and the great artwork.

I like the atmosphere and the visuals are as good as usual with Pastel, but with all the typical bugginess of Pastel games (odd navigation, mild pixel hunting), the story of this series so far doesn't seem compelling enough to put it up there with other series like Covert Front (another please!) or The Fog Fall.

I liked the game, even though I found it a little straight-forward. I liked the first one better - there was more exploring to do.
But the biggest problems was the ads. I had to scroll up and down every time I had to use things or look at the top of the screen. That was pretty annoying.

Knowing that this game is more of an interactive story rather than a true puzzling point and click game helps to set the expectations right.

One comment though. None of the two Aurora games allow dialogs to be repeated. Sometimes when I click too fast, and I would like to read vital story or in-game information again, but I am not given the chance to do so.

Having played through both Aurora 1 and 2, I must say this one doesn't live up to the original. The first had a wonderful Twilight Zone flair to it, especially when certain actions made other characters appear seemingly out of thin air.

The problem is Aurora 2 really doesn't advance the plot in any significant way. It felt like it might in Chapter 2, but then devolved into an overblown hunt for a certain item that in the end is never used. Obviously there is some kind of connection between Mary and Aurora (I'll throw in my pet theory at the end) but this is never explored to any degree.

It was more disappointing than bad. Aurora 1 set a really nifty stage for a really good yarn. Aurora 2 just doesn't follow up very well.

Anyway, as far as what's going on:

Mary and Aurora are the same person. Could be Aurora is just posing as Mary, or a Jekyll and Hyde thing or maybe possession. Best guess is she drains others' life energies (maybe some kind of "time vampire") which causes her to stay young and them to age rapidly.

I can't tell if it finished loading and I really wanted to try this out.

[Some browsers will show you page loading progress or an indicator that animates while the page is loading. In Firefox, look where the favicon usually appears on the tab for the page loading indicator. When that stops animating, then the game has finished loading. -Jay]

I liked it, but it wasn't as good as the first one. The use of the flashbacks/flashforwards(?) in the various scenes was quite intriguing, and makes me jump more than once. The music was also quite eerie, which went well with the creepy atmosphere.

My theory is that

Aurora is something to do with a parallel world, which would explain the flashes as they're a different reality.

I get a HUGE problem playing this game. First off the game starts at the Load Game screen. When I go back to the main menu to select New Game, if left long enough, the game skips back to the Load Game screen without me having to click.

After I've got the game going, it randomly skips pieces of the game, skipping ahead until it gets back through the end to the start game screen. What is going on?

I'm real keen to play this cause I really liked the first one, but it is COMPLETELY unplayable because of this, is this happening to anyone else?

[First off, make sure your Flash Player is updated to the latest version. Next, empty your browser cache and reload the game, and then let it load for a few minutes before clicking Play. It sounds like the file you initially downloaded was either incomplete or corrupted somehow. Clearing your browser cache will force it to download it again. -Jay]

This game is obviously a bridge. Could it have been more like/better than the first? Sure, but...it's a bridge. I did say "that's it?!" at the end, but then I realized...it's a bridge. I enjoyed it as it was, and was forewarned in the review about the linearity of it. So I am a bit more forgiving of the game structure & play. The hot spots were somewhat large so, like another poster, I left a scene or two accidentally, but I got used to the hot spot size. Here's hoping the 3rd installment will be a doozie! Thanks to JIG for great games - you take up more time at my workplace than you probably should. ;o)

Um, the game is still unplayable for me, I waited until it loaded, the starts normally at the saves section for some reason, everything is okay until I click "New Game" where the game starts playing through it's frames, someone please help :(

[Although a fix should be forthcoming soon, until then it's best to let the game load and not click "Play" for several minutes. Unfortunately, in the initial version of the game, the play button appears before the game has downloaded completely, which can cause the situation you're experiencing. Try reloading the page and waiting a few minutes before clicking play. Hopefully a new version will be available later today that fixes the issue. -Jay]

Nevermind, the game plays normally now, I was referring to the "New Game" on the real game's main menu.
If this helps, I was playing the JIG hosted one.
Thanks anyway Jay :)

[I'm glad it's working for you now. Yes, the loading of the game is problematic with this game in its current version. The developer is aware and working on a fix for it. The game makes itself playable before all parts of the game have been downloaded. This can cause the situation you experienced. -Jay]

I liked how the game didn't make you go backwards. For example, at the end of chapter 3, when you think, "I need to do X", you don't have to trudge back through several empty screens to where X can be done. It just happens.

But, I found the cut between chapter 1 and 2 very confusing. I didn't know where I was, why I was there, or what my goal was. And I definitely don't approve of

Not as good as it's predecessor.
The way it limited exploration to a new screen until you found the right item (even though said item did not logically prevent you from exploring further) was annoying and is bad practice in this type of game imo.
Story was not as interesting either, it was all very vague and nothing new got clarified. Or if it did, I didn't get it. Lol.

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